As the administrator of this blog, not only can I see the # of hits the site gets (as can all of you…a quick check of the counter shows that we are up to 3,142 hits), but I can also track what countries the hits are coming from. How or why anybody outside of my circle of friends and family sees and reads this blog is beyond me, but there have been hits from all over the world including almost every continent. So far the good people of Antarctica are the only continent that have completely ignored ‘Sneaky Sweets’, but that’s okay…they are probably too busy hanging with penguins and trying to stay warm to read my blog. Plus, contrary to my blog entry from 1/17/12 they probably feel strongly about warming up their cars for awhile before taking off, regardless of the year of the car. So Antarctica withstanding, we have had hits from some pretty distant countries. I can understand hits coming from Europe as maybe a friend of a friend might know someone there and told them about it…but Indonesia? Check out the list of Sneaky nations so far:
United States
Russia
United Kingdom
France
Germany
Romania
Japan
Canada
Czech Republic
Latvia
China
Italy
Ireland
Peru
Indonesia
Costa Rica
South Korea
Columbia
Malaysia
Australia
Netherlands
Serbia
South Africa
Kenya
Note the last two…South Africa and Kenya?? I know very little about Africa, but in my limited mind it is separated into two sections: 1) South Africa…a place that we have always been lead to believe was evil. I guess they are better now, but I think I might still be a little pissed at them and maybe do not completely trust them yet? 2) The rest of Africa…a wild place full of elephants and lions and monkeys. I know from reading the magazine covers in the checkout line at my local Rainbow Foods that Angelina Jolie and Madonna have adopted a good chunk of the population and relocated them to various mansions throughout Europe. And I know from being a good U2 fan that Bono is trying to save the rest. But I fear that those they do not get to will be struggling with a lifetime of war, drought and famine. Why in the world would anyone there be reading about Sneaky Sweets?
The youngest of my two sisters Cindy is an African expert so maybe I should check with her. Her husband Gus Savalas is extremely tough, cool and smart. They travelled throughout Africa together and even got married there. I am ashamed to admit, but as adults Cindy and I have not kept in contact with each other as much as we should. I do know that Cindy is crazy smart, loves animals, is strong in every sense of the word, and she makes really good bread. I am not really sure but I think she got her bachelors degree in ‘partying’ at the University of Wisconsin/Madison, her masters degree in horseback riding and hockey at a fancy Canadian college in Montreal, and her doctorate degree in African Politics at a fancy U.S. college like Yale or the University of America in Washington D.C. Obviously I need to give Cindy a call and say hi, catch up, and stay in touch more. I hope they know that I think about them often.
So here is what else I know about Africa. I know from seeing the movie ‘Blood Diamond’ that the place is full of horrible diamond mines and we should never buy our diamonds from there. I know from seeing the movie ‘Out Of Africa’ that it is a vast and beautiful place full of biplanes and steam locomotive trains. I know from watching the ‘Weather Channel’ that Africa is guilty of annually spawning numerous hurricanes that jump off the west coast and scurry across the Atlantic, talking careful aim at our great eastern cities with intent to do grievous bodily harm. And I know from watching ‘Man vs. Wild’ that the place is chock full of strange but tasty bugs that the star of the show ‘Bear Grylls’ likes to eat whenever he hangs out there.
So anyways, my completely naïve sense of Africa makes me wonder why anybody there has the time or the inclination to read my little blog. If anybody from Africa could login to the site and email me your story about how you heard of ‘Sneaky Sweets’ I would be thrilled. Or if you could leave a comment in the ‘comment box’ I would be honored. And Cindy, I promise I will call soon.
Dearest brother, as the Family Expert on Africa, I am only too happy to answer any and all questions. I may make some of it up, but you probably wont know that I am doing this, so we'll both be happy. I will note that internet access in Africa, while not as widespread as in the States, is found in every city and a lot of the rural areas. They also have cars, smog, fitness centers, and business suits there.
ReplyDeleteps: We are no longer mad at South Africa, although I might be, a little bit, at the ANC for dropping their SACP constituency in the dirt. ;)
CARS?? Hang on, I'm calling you right now...
ReplyDeleteI can add a little to your knowledge of Africa... and this comes from seeing/listening to The Meters, The Neville Brothers, and The Funky Meters over many years: "A woman is a woman, and a man is man." Which makes me wonder if the country is ignoring transgender issues?
ReplyDeleteI just re-read this entry, because it is the one that has gotten the most hits for some reason. Here is an update: the count is now up to 13,963 hits from 85 different countries. Here they are:
ReplyDelete1) United States
2) Russia
3) United Kingdom
4) France
5) Germany
6) Romania
7) Japan
8) Canada
9) Czech Republic
10) Latvia
11) China
12) Italy
13) Ireland
14) South Africa
15) Peru
16) Indonesia
17) Costa Rica
18) South Korea
19) Colombia
20) Malaysia
21) Kenya
22) Australia
23) Netherlands
24) Israel
25) Serbia
26) Luxembourg
27) Sweden
28) Brazil
29) India
30) Philippines
31) Spain
32) United Arab Emirates
33) Slovakia
34) Mexico
35) Belarus
36) Norway
37) Estonia
38) Ukraine
39) Austria
40) Poland
41) Belgium
42) Venezuela
43) New Zealand
44) Bahrain
45) Bulgaria
46) Singapore
47) Hong Kong
48) Cambodia
49) Qatar
50) Rwanda
51) Finland
52) Egypt
53) Taiwan
54) Jamaica
55) Denmark
56) Thailand
57) Turkey
58) Bahamas
59) Portugal
60) Saudi Arabia
61) Afghanistan
62) Faroe Islands
63) Vietnam
64) Peru
65) Hungary
66) Pakistan
67) Croatia
68) Zimbabwe
69) Panama
70) Sri Lanka
71) Lithuania
72) Cameroon
73) Switzerland
74) Turks and Caicos Islands
75) Iceland
76) Ecuador
77) Puerto Rico
78) Argentina
79) Uruguay
80) Georgia
81) Cyprus
82) Malta
83) Iraq
84) Tunisia
85) Brunei